# Pat Ast > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pat_Ast > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pat_Ast.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Ast > Source revision: 1342854155 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American actress and model (1941–2001)}} {{Infobox person | name = Pat Ast | image = Pat Ast 1972.jpg | caption = Ast in 1972 | birth_name = Patricia Ann Ast | birth_date = {{Birth date|1941|10|21}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2001|10|2|1941|10|21}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | resting_place = [Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery](/source/Mount_Sinai_Memorial_Park_Cemetery) | education = [Erasmus Hall High School](/source/Erasmus_Hall_High_School) | alias = | occupation = {{Flat list| * Actress * model }} | years_active = 1969–1993 | signature = | website = }} '''Patricia Ann Ast''' (October 21, 1941 – October 2, 2001) was an American actress and model. She was best known for starring in [Andy Warhol](/source/Andy_Warhol) films and being a [Halston](/source/Halston) model and muse in the 1970s. ==Early life== Patricia Ann Ast was born on October 21, 1941, in the [Flatbush](/source/Flatbush%2C_Brooklyn) neighborhood of [Brooklyn, New York](/source/Brooklyn%2C_New_York), to Jewish parents Irwin and Rose (Ludwig) Ast.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q6dZHAU3m7oC&q=Pat+Ast+Jewish&pg=PA7|title=Party Animals: A Hollywood Tale of Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll Starring the Fabulous Allan Carr|last=Hofler|first=Robert|date=March 2, 2010|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=9780306818943|language=en}}{{cite web |url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=60901&h=17835322&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=3693 |title=Patricia Ann Ast in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 |date= |website=Ancestry.com |access-date=August 26, 2019 |quote=}} She attended Erasmus Hall High School in Prospect Lefferts Garden, Brooklyn.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/pat-ast-halston-netflix-andy-warhol-muse |title=Pat Ast Was the Halston & Andy Warhol Muse Who Never Got Her Due |last=Wally |first=Maxine |magazine=[W Magazine](/source/W_Magazine) |date=May 14, 2021 |accessdate= February 12, 2022}} ==Career== [[File:Pat Ast, Dennis Christopher, and Shelley Duvall (1975).jpg|thumb|Ast (left) with [Dennis Christopher](/source/Dennis_Christopher) and [Shelley Duvall](/source/Shelley_Duvall) in 1975]] Ast enjoyed partying in her twenties on [Fire Island](/source/Fire_Island), and her boisterous personality allowed her to meet and befriend influential people. She had aspirations to become an actress, singer and model despite her day job as a receptionist at a box factory. Ast made her screen debut after meeting director [John Schlesinger](/source/John_Schlesinger) on Fire Island, who cast her as a party guest in his film ''[Midnight Cowboy](/source/Midnight_Cowboy)'' (1969). Around that time, she caught the attention of fashion designer [Halston](/source/Halston), who gave her a job at his boutique and made her one of his models, despite her weighing 210 pounds, in a time when most models were extremely thin. In the early 1970s, with [Pat Cleveland](/source/Pat_Cleveland), Connie Cook, [Alva Chinn](/source/Alva_Chinn), [Anjelica Huston](/source/Anjelica_Huston), [Karen Bjornson](/source/Karen_Bjornson), among others, Ast became one of Halston's favored troupe of models, nicknamed the Halstonettes.{{cite book|title=A Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4NO5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA236|date=14 October 2014|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4516-5630-5|pages=236–}} She also appeared in runway shows for Halston and [Yves St. Laurent](/source/Yves_Saint_Laurent_(brand)), closing the 1972 Coty Awards runway show for Halston by popping out of a giant cake. She became associated with [Andy Warhol](/source/Andy_Warhol), who gave her the role of landlady Lydia in his film ''[Heat](/source/Heat_(1972_film))'' (1972) alongside [Joe Dallesandro](/source/Joe_Dallesandro). In 1975, Ast moved to Hollywood to pursue her acting career. She appeared in films such as ''[The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox](/source/The_Duchess_and_the_Dirtwater_Fox)'' (1976), ''[Foul Play](/source/Foul_Play_(1978_film))'' (1978), ''[The Incredible Shrinking Woman](/source/The_Incredible_Shrinking_Woman)'' (1981), and ''[Reform School Girls](/source/Reform_School_Girls)'' (1986).{{cite journal|last=Savage|first=David|date=September 6, 2007|title=Pat Ast - You Were a Piece of Semi-Heaven!|url=http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/325-PAT-AST-YOU-WERE-A-PIECE-OF-SEMI-HEAVEN!.html|journal=[Cinema Retro](/source/Cinema_Retro)|access-date=April 20, 2016}}Yacowar, Maurice. ''The Films of [Paul Morrissey](/source/Paul_Morrissey)''. [Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press), 1993. She became resentful of Los Angeles as her film career stalled and she went to New York to do ''[Nine](/source/Nine_(musical))'', a Broadway musical based on [Federico Fellini](/source/Federico_Fellini)’s movie ''[8 1/2](/source/8_1%2F2)'', but was dismissed after three months. == Death == Ast's lifelong battle with [diabetes](/source/Diabetes_mellitus) worsened in the last decade of her life, resulting in the amputation of some toes. Halston's death in 1990 affected her tremendously, and she was said to never have been the same. Ast died on October 2, 2001, at her home in [West Hollywood, California](/source/West_Hollywood%2C_California). Her death came three weeks after the death of her longtime friend [Berry Berenson](/source/Berry_Berenson), who was killed in the [September 11 attacks](/source/September_11_attacks). Ast's neighbors noticed that the newspapers were piling up outside her door and that she hadn't been out to walk her dogs in a few days. Concerned, they called a friend of Ast's, who found her dead on her bed. It was reported that she had died of [natural causes](/source/Death_by_natural_causes). Due to scheduling conflicts among the attendees, there were two memorial services. Among the guests were [Richard Benjamin](/source/Richard_Benjamin), [Paula Prentiss](/source/Paula_Prentiss), [Bud Cort](/source/Bud_Cort), and [Paul Reubens](/source/Paul_Reubens). Ast was buried at [Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery](/source/Mount_Sinai_Memorial_Park_Cemetery) in [Hollywood Hills](/source/Hollywood_Hills).{{cite news|last=Silva|first=Horacio|date=February 24, 2002|title=Remembrance Of Things Ast|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/24/magazine/remembrance-of-things-ast.html|newspaper=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|access-date=April 20, 2016}}{{cite news|author=|date=October 26, 2001|title=Pat Ast, 59; Model, Actress in Warhol Films, B Movies|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-oct-26-me-61805-story.html|newspaper=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)|access-date=April 20, 2016}} == Filmography == {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1969|| ''[Midnight Cowboy](/source/Midnight_Cowboy)'' || Party Guest || Uncredited |- |1970|| ''[The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker](/source/The_Sidelong_Glances_of_a_Pigeon_Kicker)'' || Fat Girl at Party || Uncredited |- |1972|| ''[The Possession of Joel Delaney](/source/The_Possession_of_Joel_Delaney)'' || Mental Hospital Patient || Uncredited |- |1972|| ''[Heat](/source/Heat_(1972_film))'' || Lydia || |- |1976|| ''[The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox](/source/The_Duchess_and_the_Dirtwater_Fox)'' || Music Hall Singer || |- |1976|| ''[Six Characters in Search of an Author](/source/Six_Characters_in_Search_of_an_Author)'' || Madam Pace || TV movie |- |1977|| ''[Which Way Is Up?](/source/Which_Way_Is_Up%3F)'' || Hooker || |- |1977|| ''[The World's Greatest Lover](/source/The_World's_Greatest_Lover)'' || Bakery / Wardrobe Lady || |- |1978|| ''[Foul Play](/source/Foul_Play_(1978_film))'' || Mrs. Venus || |- |1978|| ''[The Users](/source/The_Users_(1978_film))'' || The Dressmaker || TV movie |- |1979|| ''Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill'' || Vera Elvira || TV movie |- |1981|| ''[The Incredible Shrinking Woman](/source/The_Incredible_Shrinking_Woman)'' || Customer #1 || |- |1982|| ''[Pandemonium](/source/Pandemonium_(1982_film))'' || Bus Driver || |- |1986|| ''[Club Life](/source/Club_Life_(1986_film))'' || Butch || |- |1986|| ''[Slow Burn](/source/Slow_Burn_(1986_film))'' || || TV movie |- |1986|| ''[Reform School Girls](/source/Reform_School_Girls)'' || Edna || |- |1989|| ''[Homer and Eddie](/source/Homer_and_Eddie)'' || Maggie Sinclair || |- |1991|| ''[Ted & Venus](/source/Ted_%26_Venus)'' || Women's Group #2 || |- |1992|| ''Loving Lulu'' || || |- |1995|| ''Beauville'' || || short |} == References == {{Reflist|30em}} == External links == * {{IMDb name|0039924}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ast, Pat}} Category:1941 births Category:2001 deaths Category:American female models Category:Female models from New York (state) Category:20th-century American actresses Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Actresses from Brooklyn Category:Erasmus Hall High School alumni Category:Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery Category:People associated with The Factory Category:Jewish American actresses Category:People from Flatbush, Brooklyn --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pat Ast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Ast) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Ast?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.